Filling Loop in 1 of 3 Zone - VP Packaged Oil-Boiler

Matty Settipane

I just bought a home with an American Standard VP(T) Packaged Oil-Fired Boiler. I have never dealt with baseboard heating let alone this type of boiler.

I disconnected one zone to do some work in a room. Now I would like to hook back up the baseboard heat. Before I hook everything back up I wanted to make sure I was filling the zone correctly.

From what I understand this is the procedure:

- Turn off water to the boiler.
- Hook up a hose to the zone release valve and drain all of the water.
- Close that valve.
- Turn the nut (90 degrees) that is located below the relase valve. I guess this allows the water to go through the whole zone and out the hose.
- Open up the release valve and turn the water back on. The pressure valve located next to the house water valve needs to be opened up to allow water to flow faster.
- Wait till the bubbles minimize in the bucket the hose is draining into.
- Shut the release valve to stop water going out of the hose.
- Turn the nut back 90 degrees.
- Flip the lever back on the pressure valve.

That should be it? Is there something that I am missing. Sorry I do not all of the technical terms.

Regards,

Matty

Sweet_2

Matty

Have you had a Pro check your system out recently?? Think it would be a good idea.

Matty Settipane

Yes. A Service person came out from Carroll Fuel and did some maintaince and repairs. Does something look wrong?

Weezbo

Matti, you sorta have the procedure down....

You may be able to lock all the valves into the boiler on the header,hook a hose on one of those blue handel "purge" valves and put one end of it in a bucket.......i need to suggest that you have the boiler turned off a while so the water temp gauge is reading like 70->100 degrees F or so....first... then open the feed water valve (black handel gate valve) lift the lever on the fast fillfeed water into the system till it reads like 22 psi or so,crack open the purge valve...into a bucket manage the fast fill lever by hand to add or maintain about 22 psi.....once the slugs of air stop comming out of the hose close the purge valve handel and put the lever back down on the fast fill...now...if you open the valve beneath the purge valve and turn on the boiler heat will return on that pipe..air gone ....basically. the what cant be seen in this picture leads me to say that part of the reason the air is having difficulty escaping from the system is there may be a few pieces that arent represented on the boiler pictures you have provided....dependent on thier placement one could see years of maint issues and costs accruing like a death by a thousnd cuts..really there is some likelihood the techs may have inadvertantly overlooked some parts with thier focus on repairing the effects of the placement of the parts that arent in the picture....or the very lack of them...

Al Gregory

No backflow preventer no mixxing valve and no fire-o-matic on the oil line. What state do you live in? In Massachusetts we could go to jail for working on something like that.

Your probably drinking boiler water and one day someone is going to burn the skin off their body in the shower and if there was ever a need for the oil to turn off because of overheating or fire it would just keep on going.

Is your car a 30 year old mess. Do u have kids that live in that house? Get yourself a new boiler and get it installed by someone that knows what they are doing.

Sweet_2

Matty

The thing that stuck out from first glance was the condition of the flue stack it appears to have some rust developing and might be an area of concern,you want to make sure all those gas fumes make it outside and not in your living space. Just a little concerned is all.

Matty Settipane

re;Filling Loop in 1 of 3 Zone - VP Packaged Oil-Boiler

Thanks for all of the replies. I had a Heating Specialist come out this weekend to take a look at the system. He noticed some leaks that he is going to repair as well as add another zone (section to purge not a thermostat) for the downstairs heat which was on the same line as the top floor heat. There is one backflow preventer on the line however, he mentioned by today's Maryland code there should be two - so he is going to add one. The expansion tank had a small leak and no air purge so he is going to replace that also. While the system is drained he is going to replace the nuts on the release pipes with levers to make it easier in the future to purge the system.

I will ask him about the fire-o-matic for the oil line and see whether or not it is code in Maryland. This may have been something my home inspector missed.

I will also seek his advice on the flue stack.

I have already considered replacing the boiler system, however, I cannot afford the $3,000 - $4,000 at this time.

As long as the one I have runs and is safe that is all my concern for the moment.

Any other recommendations for upgrades to my system would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Matty